Why I Wrote JUST IN TIME

This is a story that took fourteen years to write, so I feel like there ought to be more to the story behind the story. But this is also 2020 — the year where hindsight is more like ouch, ouch than twenty-twenty.

These posts serve two functions for me:

1. I like knowing a bit about the story behind a book so I hope readers do, too, and;
2. These posts help me remember what I felt and thought at the time.

But…I wrote the bulk of this before the full effects of the pandemic hit, which was a good thing since it hosed my concentration for a while. But that is more the “story behind why it didn’t release for so long.” lol And me trying to remember what I felt like when I wrote it because it feels like there is pre-pandemic and here and now, with a big wall in between.

So here we go:

• I wrote Just in Time because readers have been asking/hoping for more.
• I also wrote Just in Time because I thought I had a gap in my production schedule and it felt like the right time and right book to fill the gap (which turned out not to be a gap after all, but that’s another story).
• I wrote it because I wanted to write something post-WWII with a little bit of mid-century modern and Palm Springs with a swirl of possible aliens. (haha)
• I wrote it because I missed Mel and Jack, too. And though the story has a new hero and heroine, Mel and Jack are there for the ride, too.

Like all my books, I planned the plot and then the characters took over and the story changed in ways that surprised me, so I hope they will surprise you (in a good way), too. It is hard to revisit characters and a story after fourteen years. When I wrote “the end” on Out of Time, I had a sequel in mind, but this isn’t that thread of an idea. It slipped away from me sometime during the years, but I think, I hope, this is a stronger story than that would have been.

Mostly I’m grateful I wrote it when I did and that I can release something against all the challenges of getting through the last few months (Is it ONLY months? Feels like so much longer!). And I hope that Just in Time carries you away from all the pandemic stuff for a little while.

Here’s the blurb:

He’s racing back to rescue the future. She’s trying to survive her present. Will the past doom their love?

Undisclosed location, present day. Fearless scientist and military pilot Ty Granger has dedicated his life to hunting down those who tamper with time. So when someone attempts to stop the development of a cutting-edge plane in 1954, he’s forced to make a risky jump back through a temporal vortex. But his mission takes a twist when he falls for the revolutionary device’s beautiful inventor…who only has days left to live.

Edwards Air Force Base, 1954. Alice Merriweather is desperate to prove her extraordinary creation can fly. So when a handsome stranger offers to be her test pilot, she overlooks his claim that he’s from the future. Fearing that a rival plans to sabotage her project, Alice risks trusting the mysterious man who treats her like an equal.

As history grows fragile, Ty fears the clock will expire on saving his love from her terrible fate. And though Alice has fallen hard for the futuristic man, she’s prepared to sacrifice her life if it means her radical work and the man she loves will survive.

With shadowy enemies threatening to erase Ty and Alice’s existence, will they find their happily ever after?

Just in Time is the captivating second book in the Out of Time science fiction romance series. If you like paradoxical plots, charming chemistry, and heart-wrenching encounters, then you’ll adore Pauline Baird Jones’ intriguing adventure.

Buy Just in Time to take a romantic flight today!

Perilously yours,

Pauline